Collapsible box with legs



June 22, 1965 L. N'; TRIMN'AL COLLAPSIBLE BOX WITH LEGS Filed April 17,1963 Figa, 4

United States Patent Office 3,190,708 Patented June 22, 1965 3,190,708COLLAPSIBLE BOX VJITH LEGS Lewis N. Trimnal, 2214 James St., Cayce, S.C.Filed Apr. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 273,601 2 Claims. (Cl. 312-213) Thisinvention primarily relates to a multi-purpose container which isspecifically adapted to be collapsed from an upright enclosure to aknocked down position to facilitate storage and shipping thereof.

It is an object of this invention to provide a container which may bespaced above a supporting surface but yet comprising means allowing itto be collapsed for shipping or storage purposes.

Another object of this invention in accordance with the preceding objectspecified, is the provision of a container which comprises a pair ofopposing end and side walls abutting a bottom wall, the side walls andend walls of which may be collapsed to a position overlying the bottomwall thereof thereby reducing effectively the space the container isadapted to occupy.

Yet another object of this invention resides in the fact that once thecontainer is used to enclose various objects, means may be provided toprevent collapse of the container.

A still further object of this invention comprises the fact that theside walls of the container are adapted to be collapsed to an overlyingposition by having the side walls thereof pivoted on axes which arespaced above each other.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision that the endwalls of the container may be oriented cplanar with the side wallswhereby effective retaining means may be extended through the end wallsand side walls to provide a strong and durable enclosure and preventcollapsing thereof.

Yet another object of this invention resides in its simplicity ofconstruction but eiiicient use for the purpose for which it has beenconceived.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of the container comprising the subjectmatter of the instant invention.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on theline 2-2 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIGURE2.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar'to FIGURE 2 but shows the container in acollapsed condition, for shipping or storage purposes.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on the line6*-6 of FIGURE l and illustrates the means utilized in conjunction withthe present invention to prevent collapsing of the side and end walls ofthe container when it is being used as an enclosure.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the container comprising thesubject matter of the instant invention is generally designated by thenumeral 1t) and comprises a bottom wall 12, a pair of opposed side walls14 and 16, and a pair 0f opposed end walls 18 and 20. The bottom wall issubstantially hollow as shown at 22 but comprises a central brace orstrut 24 extending between the edges thereof. A supporting Wire screen26 extends the full length of the bottom wall 12, in order to enableobjects to be supported thereon.

The bottom wall 12 extends intermediate a first pair of legs 28 and 30and a second pair of legs 32 and 34. In this manner, the container maybe substantially spaced above a supporting surface whereby the containeris used to support trash or the like, and stray animals cannot get intothe interior.

The side walls 14 and 16 are adapted to extend between the legs 28, 32and 30, 34 and the wall 14 has a bottom edge abutting the bottom wall12. It will be noticed, however, that the side wall 16 is formed of twopieces 31 and 33. The piece 33 is stationary and is held in place bymeans of a pair of anchor pins 35 or the like when the container is usedas a receptacle. The piece 31 is adapted to seat on the piece 33 in thisposition, but when the box is collapsed, as shown in FIGURE 5,. thepiece 33 is removed and stored beneath the container by means of a pairof spring clips such as 37 attached to the bottom wall 12. Like thebottom wall 12, the side Walls 14 and 16 are also hollow, but are closedby means of a tine wire mesh screen 36 and 38 respectively. Therefore,the user of the container can readily observe the level of the contentsplaced therein.

The end walls 1S and 2i) of the container are each formed of a two-piececonstruction. A lower portion 40 and 42 of =the end walls 18 and 20respectively, extend intermediate adjacent legs 28, 30 and 32, 34 andare rigidly joined thereto. The upper portions of the end walls 13 and20 designated by the numerals 44 and 46 respectively, are pivotallymounted intermediate the 1legs 2S, 36 and 32, 34 as will hereinafter bedescribed and further comprise laterally extending anges such asgenerally shown bythe numeral 48. The laterally extending flanges 48form upright extensions of the legs 28-34 and terminate coplanar withthe side walls 14 and 16. Suitable anchoring pins such as shown at 50and as moreV clearly shown in FIGURE 6, are adapted to extend throughaligned openings 52 in the end walls and 54 in the side walls toeffectively rigidity the structure and prevent the same from collapsing.

A removable lid 56 having a handle element 58 central-A ly mountedthereon is supported on the top edges of the end walls and side walls.This effectively completes the enclosure of the container.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5, it will be appreciatedthat thecontainer end walls and side walls may be collapsed to Ian overlyingposition to effectively reduce the space which the container occupies.The top portions 44 and 46 of the end walls are pivoted -by means ofpins or the like about an taxis `60 and 62 respectively. The pivot pinsextend through the side edges of the leg portions just below thelaterally extending flanges 48 of the end Walls and termin-ate in saidend walls. The side wall 14 is adapted to pivot about an `axis `64 bymeans of pins or the like extending through one ofthe faces of the legs2.8 and 3? `and terminating in the edge portions of said side wall. Theportion 31 of t-he side wall 16, af-ter the portion 33 has been removed,is pivoted about an axis d6 which lies in a plane substantially abovethe axis 64 whereby upon pivoting said side walls to -overlie thebottom, the side wall -16 will overlie the side wall 14 in collapsedposition rather than interfering therewith. As the pins comprising theaxis 64, the pins utilized to define the axis66 pass through the outerface of the legs 30 and 34 Iand terminate in a side edge of the portion31 of the side wall 116.

The collapse of the container to its knocked down position should now bereadily apparent. The pins 35 and 5d are trst removed and the portion 33of the side wall 16 is stored beneath the bottom wall 12. The side wall14 is then pivoted about the axis 64 to a position overlying the bottomwall 12. Then, the portion 31 of the side wall 16 is pivoted about theaxis 66 to a position as shown in FIGURE 5, wherein it overlies the sidewall 14. The end wall portions 44 and 46, may then be pivoted about theaxes 60 and 62 respectively to a position atop the side wall 16. The lidis then once again placed on the collapsed structure as shown in FIGURES4 and 5, therefore forming a compact knocked down container occupyingsubstantially less space than when in use position. t will beappreciated that by making the side wall 16 of two pieces, therectangular shape of the container is preserved in its knocked downcondition thereby providing for ease of handling and ship ping.

It should be noted that suitable handles 68 and 70 may be mounted on thestationary portions 40 and 42 of the end walls, whereby the containermay be readily carried by the user. It should also be noted that thebottom edges of the flanges 48 and the top edges of the leg portions263-32 are rounded as shown at 72 and 74.

It should be appreciated that a container of this type can be adapted toa multiplicity of uses. Also, suitable wheels may be placed on thebottoms of the legs 28-32 whereby the container may be wheeled fromplaceto-place. The legs of the container may also be constructed ofportions which can be pivoted to underlie the bottom wall for conservingspace, if desired. Due to its simplicity of construction, the containermay be made of any practical material such as wood, or molded plastic oraluminum.

Thet foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modications and equivalents maybe resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A collapsible container comprising an elongated rectangularhorizontal bottom having opposed end edges and opposed side edges; apair of flat elongated legs secured to each end edge adjacent theopposite ends thereof, each leg being orientated vertically and havingone longitudinal edge thereof aligned with, or in the 'same verticalplane as, the adjoining side edge of the bottom, said legs projectingboth vertically above and vertically below the bottom, the projection ofthe legs vertically below the bottom being sucient so as to space thebottom in substantial spaced relation to a supporting surface; a pairlof end walls, each of said end walls being of the same thickness as thelegs and consisting of a lower portion and an upper portion, each lowerportion being lixedly secured to an end edge of the bottom between andcoplanar with the legs thereon, the upper and lower edges of each lowerportion terminating inwardly of the upper and lower ends of the legs,each upper portion being pivotally secured to and between the pair oflegs secured to one end edge for movement between a iirst verticalposition coplanar with the legs and the corresponding lower portion, anda second inwardly extending horizontal position with the lower edge ofthe upper portion coplanar with the outer face of the correspondinglower portion, each upper portion including a pair of integral laterallyextending coplanar side ilanges forming, in the first vertical position,vertical coplanar extensions of the corresponding legs; and a pair ofside walls, each side wall being positioned along one side edge of thebottom and being pivotally mounted on and between one leg on one endedge of the bottom and the corresponding leg on the other end edge formovement between a rst vertical position with its outer face coplanarwith the side edge, and a second inwardly extending horizontal positionwith its lower edge coplanar with the lside edge, said side walls beingpivotally mounted in vertically offset planes so as to enable one tooverlie the other in their horizontal positions, said end wall upperportions being pivotally mounted in the same plane vertically above theplane of pivotal mounting of the upper side wall; the projection of thelegs vertically above the bottom being approximately equal to thecornbined height of the horizontally positioned side and end walls.

2. The structure of claim 1 including a pair of handles, one fixed toeach end wall lower portion, each handle projecting laterally outwardfrom its corresponding lower portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 887,080 5/08Ferguson 217-15 929,162 7/09 Oflineer 217-15 1,199,293 9/16 MontgomeryS12-258 1,402,666 1/22 Sexton 217-15 1,524,966 2/25 Boelrnan 217-151,608,457 11/26 Anson 217-15 2,558,209 6/51 Derman S12-262 X 2,642,7286/53 Thomaras 312-244 X FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRlS, Examiner.

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED RECTANGULAR HORIZONTAL BOTTOM HAVING OPPOSED END EDGES AND OPPOSED SIDE EDGES; A PAIR OF FLAT ELONGATED LEGS SECURED TO EACH END EDGE ADJACENT THE OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, EACH LEG BEING ORIENTATED VERTICALLY AND HAVING ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE THEREOF ALIGNED WITH, OR IN THE SAME VERTICAL PLANE AS, THE ADJOINING SIDE EDGE OF THE BOTTOM, SAID LEGS PROJECTING BOTH VERTICALLY ABOVE AND VERTICALLY BELOW THE BOTTOM, TBE PROJECTION OF THE LEGS VERTICALLY BELOW THE BOTTOM BEING SUFFICIENT SO AS TO SPACE THE BOTTOM IN SUBSTANTIAL SPACED RELATION TO A SUPPORTING SURFACE; A PAIR OF END WALLS, EACH OF SID END WALLS BEING OF THE SAME THICKNESS AS THE LEGS AND CONSISTING OF A LOWER PORTION AND AN UPPER PORTION, EACH LOWER PORTION BEING FIXEDLY SECURED TO AN END EDGE OF THE BOTTOM BETWEEN AND COPLANAR WITH THE LEGS THEREON, THE UPPER AND LOWER EDGES OF EACH LOWER PORTION TERMINATING INWARDLY OF THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF THE LEGS, EACH UPPER PORTION BEING PIVOTALLY SECURED TO AND BETWEEN THE PAIR OF LEGS SECURED TO ONE END EDGE FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A FIRST VERTICAL POSITION COPLANAR WITH THE LEGS AND THE CORRESPONDING LOWER PORTION, AND A SECOND INWARDLY EXTENDING HORIZONTAL POSITION WITH THE LOWER EDGE OF THE UPPER PORTION COPLANAR WITH THE OUTER FACE OF THE CORRESPONDING LOWER PORTION, EACH UPPER PORTION INCLUDING A PAIR OF INTEGRAL LATERALLY EXTENDING COPLANAR SIDE FLANGES FORMING, IN THE FIRST VERTICAL POSITION, VERTICAL COPLANAR EXTENSIONS OF THE CORRESPONDING LEGS; AND A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS, EACH SIDE WALL BEING POSITIONED ALONG ONE SIDE EDGE OF THE BOTTOM AND BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON AND BETWEEN ONE LEG ON ONE END EDGE OF THE BOTTOM AND THE CORRESPONDING LEG ON THE OTHER END EDGE FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A FIRST VERTICAL POSITION WITH ITS OUTER FACE COPLANAR WITH THE SIDE EDGE, AND A SECOND INWARDLY EXTENDING HORIZONTAL POSITION WITH ITS LOWER EDGE COPLANAR WITH THE SIDE EDGE, SAID SIDE WALLS BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN VERTICALLY OFFSET PLANES SO AS TO ENABLE ONE TO OVERLIE THE OTHER IN THEIR HORIZONTAL POSITIONS, SAID END WALL UPPER PORTIONS BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN THE SAME PLANE VERTICALLY ABOVE THE PLANE OF PIVOTAL MOUNTING OF THE UPPER SIDE WALL; THE PROJECTION OF THE LEGS VERTICALLY ABOVE THE BOTTOM BEING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE COMBINED HEIGHT OF THE HORIZONTALLY POSITIONED SIDE AND END WALLS. 